At 12:11 AM 12/2/98 -0500, W. Fred Rump wrote:
On 30 Nov 98, at 20:40, Richard Heli wrote about Re: [webpages-l] GENEALOGY.COM says goodbye:
It does seem a bit abrupt. I am surprised that you do not seem to have sought the advice of the groups before making such a move?
I guess I was a bit prescient in my recent questions as to who owns what around here. I was afraid that some such precipitous action which would completely ignore the group as a whole and let individual predispositions and personal benefits take over instead. My fear was not directed at anyone in particular but rather at the concept of individual sponsorship rather than joint sponsorship and ownership. As we know such a relationship always depends on the gooid will of one or more individuals and the smallest pebble can derail the train. It is a dangerous situation which is why I was in favor of a societal arrangement where individuals can come and go but the whole will stay.
I agree with Rick that common courtesy would have been in order to 'discuss' this move. Even if it would have had no other outcome, it would have helped to organize an orderly transfer and no need for an abrupt cut-off to those who have been using genealogy.com for many years.
I did not pick up my mail until late tonight and was hit with 137 messages and this shock. I have not yet read other responses to the 'announcement' but my immediate suggestion would be to move our pages to rootsweb.com as surely the access bandwidth at genealogy.net will not be sufficient.
I don't think it is any of our business what the name was worth.
I am not sure I agree on this point. It depends on how much money changed hands. If it is a certain figure or below, I am fine with it as a just profit on securing the name and maintaining the server for these 4 years. On the other hand, if the figure is much above a certain number, then I feel rather betrayed. The name genealogy.com is a good one, but let's face it, that's only at best half the reason Broderbund wants it. Without a doubt the main reason is that it is linked to from every site in the known universe, from Cyndi's List which must have dozens of links to various points in it to every other genealogical site commercial or otherwise right down to all the thousands of myriad private family pages out there. Even though a lot of those links will no longer reach their original targets because they point to places within the hierarchy, you can bet that Broderbund is smart enough to make sure they work in terms of being places to sell product of interest to the audience that each link represents, especially now in this gift-giving season. And every one of those links exists not because of the name genealogy.com, but because of the work of all the poor volunteers who labored for long hours for absolutely nothing. I had earlier posted that I did not mind if Rainer were to use banner ads to cover costs to maintain his site. But this is different. To get out of the site altogether is quite a different matter. This whole event brings me up very short. I am in profound doubt whether to ever contribute again to any website which is not my own. I do think that there needs to continue to be a site in the USA. I am not sure it is rootsweb since they already have a lot of their own stuff and am not sure if they would be supportive of our similar and yet differently organized stuff. I would at any rate suggest that we try to create some structure, perhaps a non-profit foundation, perhaps something else, to try ensure that there is an ongoing Structure which can always keep things going regardless of whether or not some individuals may wish to opt out. Rick
Obviously enough to cause this change. Money still rules and it is a normal business process to cash in when it passes our doorstep. Again I only come back to common courtesy which one normally expects even in a business relationship.
Fred
The Rumps at Pelican Lake Motorcoach Resort 4788 Corian Court Naples, FL 34114-9418 941-775-7838 PS Genealogists live in the past lane